WASHINGTON — President Trump announced Tuesday he will soon dispatch Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Ukraine as the US attempts to secure a critical mineral deal in exchange for supplying aid in the country’s ongoing war with Russia.
“I am sending Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to Ukraine to meet President Zelensky,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“This War MUST and WILL END SOON — Too much Death and Destruction. The U.S. has spent BILLIONS of Dollars Globally, with little to show. WHEN AMERICA IS STRONG, THE WORLD IS AT PEACE.”
Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, told The Post last week that the president was having the Treasury look into how they could secure a deal to secure billions of dollars worth of rare-earth minerals for the US.
Ukraine is home to some of Europe’s largest reserves of critical minerals, with rich deposits of metals including lithium, titanium, uranium, and iron as well as oil and natural gas.
Zelensky said last week Ukraine would be interested in a deal involving rare-earth and critical minerals, while Trump told Fox News host Bret Baier over the weekend that Kyiv “essentially agreed” to provide rare-earth minerals in exchange for continued American support.
Trump has vowed to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, citing its brutality — and calling the destruction of some areas of the eastern European country “worse than Gaza.”
Unlike former President Joe Biden, Trump has directed a holistic approach to ending the war, leaning on all elements of national power to affect the outcome — not just military, Kellogg explained.
Bessent, who has only been running the Treasury Department for two weeks, was one of the first cabinet officials Trump tapped to help strategize a smart end to the war, the envoy added.
“Solving the Russia-Ukraine war is really all hands on deck for the entire administration, so a whole-of-government approach,” the general said. “We got the national security team talking about it — the president, vice president, national security adviser, secretaries of state [and] treasury, National Security Council, working all together.”
But in return, Trump last week said he wants Ukraine to “equalize” the aid it receives with mineral resources for the US, an arrangement which he tasked Bessent to oversee.
Ukraine has not had a recent geological survey of its resources in recent years, so an updated assessment may be needed to fully determine its mining potential, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) critical minerals security program director Gracelin Baskaran told The Post last week.
Late Monday, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) introduced a bill that would allow Trump to lend or lease Ukraine military aid to help fight off Russia’s attacks.
Such deals — unlike those made under Biden — would see Kyiv either return or pay for any US equipment sent to Ukraine.
“Due to endless unfounded fears of escalation and affinity for red tape, the Biden admin NEVER used the authority,” Wilson’s office told The Post in an email. “President Trump, being far more pragmatic and insistent upon ending the war responsibly, will have massive leverage through this authority.”
Trump has also pledged to hold negotiations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring that about.
The president revealed to The Post over the weekend that he has had a phone conversation with Putin, but did not disclose how soon Russia-Ukraine talks are expected to take place.
Vice President JD Vance is expected to meet with Zelensky on the sidelines of this weekend’s Munich Security Conference in Germany, which Kellogg is also scheduled to attend.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is also in Europe this week visiting troops ahead of a NATO defense ministers summit on Thursday in Brussels.
Feb. 22 will mark the three-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, told The Post last week that the president was having the Treasury look into how it could secure a deal to get billions of rare-earth minerals to the US.
“You can come up with a deal, and that’s what [Trump] has the Treasury looking at: ‘OK, how do you make a deal where aid is predicated off of the payback [of] precious metals?’” Kellogg said at the time.
Ukraine is one of Europe’s largest supplier of rare-earth minerals, with rich deposits of metals including lithium, titanium, uranium and iron.
Zelensky has indicated he would be interested in discussing a deal involving supplying rare-earth minerals, while Trump told Fox News host Bret Baier over the weekend that Ukraine “essentially agreed” to provide such minerals in exchange for continued American support.
Trump has vowed to end Russia’s war on Ukraine and to hold negotiations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring that about.
The president revealed to The Post over the weekend that he has had a phone conversation with Putin, but did not disclose how soon Russia-Ukraine talks are expected to take place.
Vice President JD Vance is expected to meet with Zelensky on the sidelines of this weekend’s Munich Security Conference in Germany, which Kellogg is also scheduled to attend.
